The Army Training System - AskTOP

Now let’s review the possible mental disorders. You need to realize that soldiersenter into the Army with varying levels of life-coping skills. Leaders should not assume thatall soldiers entering the Army can adequately handle the inherent stress of military service,or even life in general, especially if they are already predisposed to psychiatric disorder. Itis unrealistic for a leader to understand the genetic composition of their soldiers or knowtheir complete developmental history. Leaders can make proper assessments of their lifecopingskills by observation and personal dialogue focused on learning and understandingtheir soldier’s background.Now we will look at the common causes of suicide and inform you of the commondanger and warning signs so you can properly anticipate suicidal or other dysfunctionalbehavior and make preemptive referrals to professional mental health care providers beforea crisis ensues.Mental disorders are, “health conditions that are characterized by alterations inthinking, mood, or behavior, which are associated with distress and/or impaired functioningand spawn a host of human problems that may include disability, pain, or death.” Mentaldisorders occur throughout society affecting all population demographics including age,gender, ethnic groups, educational background, and even socioeconomic groups. In theUnited States, approximately twenty-two percent of those between the ages of 18 – 64years had a diagnosis of some form of mental disorder.Mental illness is more common than cancer, diabetes, or heart disease, filling almost21 percent of all hospital beds at any given time. In fact, the number one reason forhospitalizations nationwide is a biological psychiatric condition.Mental disorders also affect our youth. At least one in five children and adolescentsbetween 9 – 17 years has a diagnosable mental disorder in a given year, extremelyimpaired are about five percent.Mental disorders vary in severity and disabling effects. However, current treatmentsare highly effective and offer a diverse array of settings. The treatment success rate forschizophrenia is sixty percent, sixty-five percent for major depression, and eighty percentfor bipolar disorder. This compares to between 41-52 percent success rates for thetreatment of heart disease.NOTE: Summarize and clarify any questions the students may have about possible mentaldisorders.14